First off, anything with “disinformation” in its name is guaranteed to be a bad idea; look no further than the U.S. government’s own Disinformation Governance Board, chaired by a woman who called the Hunter Biden laptop story a “fairy tale.”
There are a number of groups out there (Media Matters, Sleeping Giants) whose business it is to scare away advertisers from conservative outlets. Among them is the mysterious Global Information Index, which reportedly is trying to keep some of that mystery intact.
The Washington Examiner’s Gabe Kaminsky reports that the Global Information Index is trying to keep the names of its board members secret because of “harassment.”
The Global Disinformation Index, which encourages advertisers to boycott disfavored news outlets, claims it offers "transparent data & intelligence." But now it's been caught redacting its IRS forms to hide the names of board members. https://t.co/OEjp6lLol8
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) April 12, 2023
Kaminsky writes:
Two U.S. nonprofit groups tied to the Global Disinformation Index, a British entity blacklisting conservative media outlets, are refusing to disclose key details about their operations, citing an obscure federal exemption law on “harassment,” according to a Washington Examiner investigation.
The private AN Foundation, also known as the Disinformation Index Foundation, and its affiliated public charity, Disinformation Index Inc., provided the Washington Examiner with heavily redacted copies of their 2021 IRS tax returns. A lawyer for the two entities is alleging that these redactions were made because the groups are the target of a coordinated “harassment campaign,” a claim that multiple tax experts warn does not allow them to hide information on officers, board members, and, in the case of one group, omit the source of a donation.
…
The lack of transparency on tax forms filed by the GDI groups could result in lawmakers and watchdog groups propelling their investigations into the purported “disinformation” tracking network, which has come under fire ever since a Washington Examiner report on Feb. 9 detailed its efforts to feed blacklists of conservative websites to advertisers. Several Republican members of Congress, including House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), have demanded answers from the State Department for steering grant money to GDI between 2020 and 2021.
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“The Washington Examiner only learned through sources in the ad industry that it was on this blacklist and was never directly informed by GDI,” Kaminsky adds.
Let me see if I have this right:
— The people crying "disinformation" are spreading it
— The people crying "hate speech" are full of hate
— The people demanding "transparency" are hiding somethinghttps://t.co/Qxp3DtB9Vw
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) April 12, 2023
"I don't think I've ever seen a 990 that excludes the names of officers and directors," said Alan P. Dye, a partner at Webster, Chamberlain & Bean who has specialized in nonprofit law since 1975. “And I’ve looked at hundreds.”
@gekaminskyhttps://t.co/LXoilv7L3m
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) April 12, 2023
There ya go. The board is their core membership, and donors, usually. Once you know who they are, you weaken them.
— Kenneth 老百姓 Rapoza (@BRICbreaker) April 12, 2023
Truly virtuous people do not virtue signal. Those who virtue signal are not virtuous.
They are hypocrites, but what else is new?
— Visio, inc. (@Metathea11) April 12, 2023
I'm an accountant. Abnormal to leave off board members. There is a specific line on the 990 Form for that. They have to be included along with the amount of their compensation. IRS likes to track and look at chains of related entities and public has a right to know.
— Thinking person (@open_to_talk) April 12, 2023
In short, it’s a progressive front group masquerading as disinformation experts.
— Ol Eagle (@rg2fwd) April 12, 2023
Everything is a psyop these days.
— Ryan TreeFiddy v3 (@Ryan_TreeFiddy) April 12, 2023
The ones pointing the finger are always the ones committing the act. SNAKES.
— IslandTime (@IslandTime02) April 12, 2023
But “the Index’s personnel and their families have received multiple threats and hacking attacks, including threats of violence against their children.” Did anyone at GDI have to provide proof of this harassment before handing over the forms? Or is that just their defense for redacting everything?
Note: We corrected a typo in the headline. sj
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Related:
Brian Stelter moderating panel of ‘fascists’ on ‘disinformation’ at WEF accidentally total comedy GOLDhttps://t.co/DB5S9CN4zV
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 17, 2023
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